Future Technology: News and Information
Future Technology: News and Information
Future Technology
News and Information
Newspapers:
It is predicted that in the relatively near future, newspapers will have so much competition with other forms of news delivery that many, if not all, will go out of business. In perhaps 10-20 years, technology will be such that you can pick up a flat panel LCD screen, about the size of a notebook page and weighing about 10 ounces. It will be a wireless computer that has been programmed to receive news that interests you including hourly updates. It will be text, audio or video, whichever you prefer. Such technology exists today but the public is not ready for it yet, but it will be soon.
Visualize Information:
There are several researchers working on new ways to visualize information. The hypertext method of non-linear reading has lots of advantages and will be the basis for future capabilities. You will be able to quickly “bore down” thru a long list of topics to the exact bit of information that you want to see at that moment.
As the Internet’s bandwidth is expanded and the speed of computers - particularly graphics - is improved, the actual mechanism of how you move thru the information will become more and more graphic. Eventually, you will do it with virtual reality. A hood of 3-D viewers will allow you to move in a three dimensional world and “open” virtual files that contain the information you want.
Access
There are devices now that can broadcast selected news stories directly to your computer while you are asleep so that you can read topics that interest you in the morning. This is also happening using wireless technology into laptops and palmtop computers. The cost is high and the available sources of information of this nature is limited now but that is changing. If one of the major news networks like CNN were to offer a service, it would spark a major competitive race that would open a huge market. The end result will be that you will be able to access what you want, when you want it 24 hours a day, no matter where you are.
Social Complications:
Unfortunately, this is not all roses. We are developing into a nation of “haves” and “have nots” but instead of money or power, it is information access that is separating us. There will be a marked difference in the success of people that have access and the equipment to get this information and those that don’t have it. If you have it, you’ll be better informed of everything - including job and investment opportunities, social and economic trends and general information about the world we live in. If you are one that does not have this access, you will miss those job and investment opportunities, not be aware of the politics and societal issues of the day and will generally be less successful in your career and life.
One developing example of this is that African Americans and Hispanics have, on average, about 40% less exposure to computers in schools than Caucasian students do. That is happening now. What will their job prospects be like in 10 or 20 years? When they finally recognize this fact to the point of doing something about it, therein lies opportunity. Watch for it.